Folding scaffold



E. L. HEYDECKE.

FOLDING ySCAFFOLD.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.29, I9I9. l 1,356,819. v Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

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UnirA EMIL, L. HEYDECKE, or ORANGE, New,zyrnnsnrg.Y

FOLDING scAFFoLn.

i sneeicatibn'oftettersPatent. Ypwml-ted;9ct '26, 1920 Application mea september 2e, 1919. serial No'. V327,173.

' which consists of one or more scaffold sections adapted to be arranged end to end to form a complete scaffold platform, and adapted for support either on uprights or to be hung as a painters scaffold by means of it were a one-piece scaffold,r that is, depressing or elevating strains can be placed on the center or on the ends of the scaffold without causing a material fieXing of the joint be- A tween the sections.

r1`he invention further resides in details of construction of said joint which will be more fully described hereinafter and finally embodied in the claim. n

rlhe invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in whichl Figure 1 is aV side view of a scaffold of my improved type made up of two scaffold sections. Fig. 2 is a top view of the structure shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 in Fig. 1, the plane 0f ,which section passes through each of the bolts on one side of the scaffold. The two scaffold sections illustrated are in general identified by the reference numerals 10 and 11, and each has the side rails or stiles 12, and which also have the usual rungs or rods 13 extending from one stile to the other and supporting the floor parts 14. So far as described, the structure is old and is the usual form of scaffold structure, i

but it will be evident that other forms of scaffold sections can be used. l

rllhe lock plates 15 are arranged on each i side of the scaffold, each lock plate being atplane parallel to the plane of the side rails.

When the scaffold sections are to be locked together, the locking stud or bolt 17 loosened so that the head 18thereof prof jectsbeyond the line of the outer face of they lock plate, andthis permits the Vrecess 19 in the lock plate to pass over the locking stud, and when the 'wing nut 2O is screwed up, the

.head 18, which'is broader than the stud, is

drawn into the groove 21 into which it fits, which groove prevents the rotation of the bolt 17 and which also prevents 'swinging of the lock plate. The recess 19 extends from the bottomk of the lockplate to approximately the top `of the groove 21, thus acting to limit the downward yswinging of the lock plate. Recesses 22-extend fdown from the top edge of the loclrplate tothe bottom of shaped rectangular heads 24 of the bolts 25, which are fastened by the set-screws 26 securely in the vgroove 23. f

It will thus be seenth'at the rectangular L-shaped Vheads 24 and the'head v18 tightly bind the lockV plates to the side rails 12, sov that any side movement vof the scaffold vsections relative to each other isprevented, andv any 'tilting movement of one `relative to the other is also prevented. The bolts also distribute the strainin a manner to insure the security andsafety of men working on the scaffold. Y

When the scaffoldsections are to `be sep- ,I arated, the set-screws 26 are 11n-screwed to the groove 23, which groove receives the L- permit the heads 24'to be swung upward in line with the recesses 22, and they are then pushed so that they retreat into the recesses 27 in the stiles, which recesses thus permit the outer edges of the heads 24 to be flush with or slightly within the outer face ofthe stiles 12. The wing nut 2O is then unscrewed, the head 18 pushed out sufficiently yso that'it can be turned, and this then permits the lool; plate to be swungto van open position,-the plate being shown swung in dottedl outline in Fig. 1, and a suitable stop 28 can beused for holdingthe lock plate` against loosely swinging on its pivot 16. l,

Each bolt'is preferably placed within a bushing 29, these bushings being inserted in the' side rails or, stiles 12l and preventing undue wear on the stiles, whichv are usually made of wood.

It lwill be evident that the scaold sections can be separated one from the other, and when separated and assembled onel on top O-the'other, can be easily carried and are also easily'placed in an ordinary Wagon for transportation, and more than tWo seotions can be arranged end't'o end so that a scaffold ofk considerable length can be made up and used;

I claim: f A scaffold comprising scaffold sections5 'a' lock plate pivotally secured to one section,

the lock plate having recesses on itstop and 10 Y lIn testimony that I claim the foregoing, I 15 f have hereto set my hand, this 13th day of September, 1919. Y Y EMIL L. HEYDECKE. 

